Guitar chord diagrams may seem daunting at first, particularly to beginners. Although their appearance differs significantly from TAB notation, their function remains the same.
The vertical lines represent your strings, beginning with the thickest (Low E) at one end and progressing to thinnest at another (High E). Black dots represent where your fingers must press to make sound.
Vertical Lines
A guitar chords diagram uses vertical lines to represent your guitar’s strings; starting from leftmost position is the low sixth string and moving rightward towards rightmost is its high first string. Horizontal lines represent frets on your guitar neck: thick line at top is called the “nut”, while each subsequent horizontal line represents one fret.
Black dots on a guitar chords chart indicate where to place your fingers for fretting purposes. Sometimes these dots contain numbers which correspond with each finger of your fretting hand: your index finger as number 1, middle finger as number 2, ring finger as number 3 and pinky as number 4. If there are black dots with an “X” or an “O”, this means they should not be fretted at that time.
Some chord charts will also include an indicator that indicates whether the chord is open or barre form; this information is especially essential if you’re playing bar chords that require holding down multiple strings simultaneously.
Horizontal Lines
A thick horizontal line at the top of a guitar chords diagram represents its nut on the fretboard, while each box or line with black dots represents one fret where your finger would need to go when playing chords.
The far left string is your low E string and often referred to as the bottom string; while on the far right is your high E string and often known as the top string.
The black dot in the middle represents your index finger for bar chords, in which multiple strings are held down at once with just your index finger. An “O” over the top nut string indicates you should leave it open. Once your fingers have been placed correctly on each string according to a chord chart, strum all downward to play correctly – this may take practice initially, but once mastered is well worth your while!
Black Dots
Chord charts feature black dots that act as identification marks for frets and strings, sometimes including finger numbers to indicate which fingers should be used when playing barre chords. They may also show which string/fret to place one index finger against during barre chords – useful information if your index finger needs to stay still when you need it to stay down for barre chords!
Additionally, if an “X” or an “O” appears above the thick black line that represents your guitar nut, this indicates that one string should remain muted during that particular chord formation.
If a D major chord contains an “O” above its first fret, this indicates that you should leave open its fifth (A) string for this chord. Otherwise, use your index finger to barre all five strings; from there on out you can work out its string-by-string pattern by following its chord diagram.
Circles
Chord diagrams contain circles to show where to place your fingers on the guitar neck. A black circle with numbers inside indicates which string and fret you should press with your fingertips, while any circles with an “O” indicate skip playing specific strings altogether – useful for beginners who may get their fingers tangled in strings too easily.
As with the diagrams above, thick black lines or curved lines in diagrams represent how to place your first finger across all strings (in this instance the index finger). You’ll also notice a 6fr symbol on top bar which tells you this chord has six strings – this indicates an open G major chord which makes playing it easy! These open chords will help quickly build your repertoire of songs on guitar!